You may be aware that there are duties on professional practices similar to those on banks and financial institutions to identify their clients and to take steps to prevent money laundering. In many case we will need documentary evidence from you or to carry out electronic searches to verify your identity. In the case of limited companies we shall require identity and address evidence for main directors and evidence of beneficial ownership of the company. Source of payment and purpose of business relationship We will need to obtain information and intended purpose of the business relationship. We may have to ask you questions about where funds are coming from how you acquired the money in the first place. We appreciate that some personal questions can seem intrusive but we are under an obligation to obtain this information from you. Cash payments We are not able to accept cash from you, except in very limited circumstances. If this is likely to cause you any problems, please let us know as soon as possible. To assist you, we do accept payment by cheque, some debit cards, as well as most major credit cards. Suspicions of crime If, during the course of certain types of work, we become suspicious or aware that money with which you are involved is the proceeds of any criminal offence, we may be under a duty to make a report to the police without letting you know or we may have to stop acting for you. |